Van Eerde (2003): A Nomological Network
Wendelien van Eerde's 2003 meta-analysis in Personality and Individual Differences pooled 121 studies to map how procrastination relates to personality and outcomes. The strongest links were negative: conscientiousness, self-efficacy and self-esteem all correlated substantially with less procrastination, while anxiety and neuroticism showed weaker positive links than the fear-of-failure story predicted. It was the first large quantitative synthesis of the field, arriving four years before Steel's better-known 2007 meta-analysis reached similar conclusions.
| Citation | Van Eerde, W. (2003). A meta-analytically derived nomological network of procrastination. Personality and Individual Differences, 35(6), 1401–1418. |
|---|---|
| Study type | Meta-analysis of 121 studies |
| Key finding | Strong negative correlations with conscientiousness, self-efficacy and self-esteem; weaker positive links with neuroticism and anxiety; small negative link with performance |
| Field context | First major meta-analysis of procrastination, predating Steel (2007) |
What the study found
Van Eerde collected every quantitative study she could find relating procrastination to traits, states and outcomes, then pooled the correlations. Procrastination sat firmly in low-conscientiousness territory: weak self-discipline, low achievement striving and disorganisation were its closest companions. Believing you can do the task (self-efficacy) and general self-worth also protected against delay. Anxiety and depression correlated positively but more modestly, suggesting distress is as much a consequence as a cause. Procrastination related negatively to performance, but the effect was smaller than its reputation suggests.
Why it matters
This paper turned a scattered literature into a coherent picture and set the template Steel's 2007 meta-analysis later confirmed and extended: procrastination is primarily a self-regulation problem, not an anxiety disorder. That ordering matters for treatment, interventions that build structure, concrete plans and easier starts target the strong correlates, while purely anxiety-focused approaches target a weaker one. It also extended attention beyond students toward work settings.
Caveats
The inputs were overwhelmingly cross-sectional, self-report and student-based, so the network describes what travels with procrastination, not what causes it. With 121 studies it is much smaller than later syntheses, and some cells of the network rested on only a handful of studies. Publication practices of the 1980s and 1990s also mean smaller or null findings may be under-represented in the pool.
Peer-reviewed meta-analysis in Personality and Individual Differences. Verified via Crossref.
Related
Steel (2007), the follow-up meta-analysisSelf-regulation, the core construct
Frequently asked questions
Is procrastination caused by anxiety?
Less than most people assume. In this meta-analysis anxiety correlated with procrastination only weakly compared with low conscientiousness and low self-efficacy, and later work suggests much of the anxiety around tasks is generated by the delay itself. For some individuals fear of failure genuinely drives avoidance, but it is not the typical engine.